Hurricane Polo intensifies to rare category 5 storm

Hurricane Polo intensifies to rare category 5 storm

Hurricane Polo has rapidly intensified off the coast of Mexico to become one of the most powerful storms of the season in the Pacific Ocean.

A Hurricane Hunter aircraft, operated by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), flew into the storm on Tuesday and recorded sustained wind speeds near 180 mph (285 km/h), with stronger gusts.

NOAA’s Miami-based National Hurricane Center called the storm “extremely dangerous” and said its intensification over 24 hours was “truly remarkable”.

The slow-moving storm is fuelling up on extremely warm waters caused by the El Niño climate phenomenon and is the season’s third category 5 storm, the highest level on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The storm is predicted to skirt the coast of south-western Mexico, but is not expected to make landfall, a warning from NOAA said.

As it slowly drifts northwest, Polo will drive torrential rainfall in parts of Mexico’s south-west coast – which could lead to deadly flooding and mudslides, NOAA said.

Rainfall totals of up to 6in (15cm) are forecast, with 8in possible in some areas. Residents have also been warned of large ocean swells and life-threatening surf conditions for the next few days.

“So far, the information we have is that (Polo) will not make a direct landfall on the coast,” Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday, but she warned residents along the Pacific coast to be vigilant. Sheinbaum highlighted the states of Jalisco, Colima and Michoacan as being at risk.